In one aspect, this invention relates to a process for removing hydrogen sulfide from gases streams. In another aspect, this invention relates to an effective H.sub.2 S absorbent material.
The removal of sulfur or compounds thereof from gases may be desirable or necessary for a variety of reasons. If a gas is to be burned as a fuel or released into the atmosphere as a waste stream, removal of sulfur compounds from the gas may be necessary to meet the sulfur emission requirement set by various air pollution control authorities. If a gas is to be employed as a feed for an industrial process, removal of sulfur compounds from the gas is often necessary to prevent the poisoning of sulfur sensitive catalysts or to satisfy other process requirements.
A variety of processes employing regenerable, solid contact materials are known for removing sulfur from gases when the sulfur is present as hydrogen sulfide. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,045,522 and 4,990,318 disclose compositions comprising a zinc compound, alumina and a nickel compound, said compositions being effective for hydrogen sulfide absorption. The spent absorbent compositions can be regenerated to the original absorbing composition state in the presence of oxygen. Even though these compositions are quite effective as H.sub.2 S absorbents, there is an ever present need to develop new absorbent compositions which exhibit specific advantages over known compositions.